By Changing Nothing, Nothing Changes
by LikeTheSwallow
Summary: Braylynn, an introverted teenager, can't believe her brother is marrying a werewolf. First of all it's dangerous, and secondly Leah's a jerk! Not to mention the fact that her supernatural family is staying over before the wedding. But what happens when she's betrayed by a friend and needs someone to lean on? Leah/OC Seth/OC
1. Chapter 1

"By changing nothing, nothing changes." -Tony Robbins

**1**

"I love you." Kevin leaned down and kissed Leah for the millionth time. She wrapped her arm around his neck, her shiny engagement glowing in the morning light. For crying out loud, she's just going to the airport!

"Bye." She said, pecking him on the cheek and rushing out the door. Kevin turned around, a goofy smile on his face. I pulled my legs to my chest for a moment, let go and stood up, glaring at him from atop the staircase.

"You'll love them. Leah say's they're lovely people." His eyes scanned the floor nearest to his shoes, but I knew he was talking to me.

"I'm going to school." I declared, smoothing out my skirt and picking up my backpack.

"You should hurry. The bus will be here soon." I descended the staircase, my sandals clicking against the tile floor as I walked to the door.

"I love you, too." He said, but I closed the door in his face. I knew it would hurt his feelings, but lately he's been trampling all over mine, so why should I care? It's all her fault. Leah. What a sweet name for such an ugly creature. And now she's bringing her monster family to meet Kevin. Fan-fricken'-tastic.

"Tough morning?" Sammie asks as I slide into my seat beside her. She flips her sandy brown hair over her shoulder and evaluates me with her grass green eyes.

"She invited her family over."

"Damn. And Kevin just agreed?"

"Of course! He's, like, her pet. Kev would jump through a flaming hoop if she asked." I replied grumpily, taking a bite from Sammie's bagel.

"Well, we have double dance tonight, so you can blow them off until around ten." I sighed, hugging my bag on my lap. Sammie pulled out and handed me a cookie.

"I guess. I mean, why do they have to come over? She didn't even mention them until a few days ago."

"They are getting married, Bray." I shuddered, and slowly chomped on my cookie. I'd been too mad at Kevin to have breakfast in the kitchen with him and _her_.

"Don't remind me, Samantha. I have to look at that ring on her finger every day."

"At least he loves her, right?" Sammie grumbled, and I felt a little bad. Now we were both in a bad mood.

"Let's not talk about it, okay? Do you have the Chem stuff from last night? I'll trade you for Physics."

"Damn straight."

The rest of the ride was spent copying each other's homework.

"BYE SAMMIE! SEE YA TOMORROW!" I waved from the front door, shivering from the cold mixed with my damp hair. The heat from the showers after dance had worn off, leaving my body wet and freezing. Sam's boyfriend Drew honked his horn and drove off, Sam waving at me from the passenger's seat. It was almost eleven o'clock now, since Drew bought us Italian food after dance. I took out my key and unlocked the door.

"Braylynn, is that you?" Leah called out. Who else would it be?

"Braylynn, where have you been? It's eleven PM and you have school tomorrow." Leah lectured, crossing her arms.

"I had dance." I said whilst giving her my best 'DUH!' look.

"You could have called. I've been waiting up because I didn't know where you were."

"That's not my problem. And my schedule is on the calendar." I kicked off my shoes and headed upstairs.

"Just because you don't like me doesn't mean you have to make Kevin miserable." She said as I reached the top of the stairs.

"You're not good enough for him." I replied, looking at the floor.

"No, I'm not good enough for you. Stop being so selfish, Braylynn." I glared at her, and looked at the way she was dressed. Ready to hop in bed with my brother, I see.

"You don't know me." The line was very cliché and teenager-y but it shut her up for a moment as I walked to my room and closed my door.

My room is the same as it was when our family moved here. My walls are still the soft pink my mother thought I adored when I was six, and I have a huge princess bed. Only my bedding, books and pictures have changed over the years. I now have a heavy blue duvet, Shakespeare's plays for English and pictures of Kevin and friends. When I turned on the light my dog sat up and wagged his tail.

"Hey Merlin." I ruffled his white fur and rubbed his belly. Merlin nuzzled my face with his nose and lay back down. He was a gift from Kevin for my birthday when I was twelve. His friend Joey's dog had had a litter of white German shepherd puppies and didn't know what to do with them. I opened my closet and changed into pajamas.

"I'll walk you tomorrow. I promise." I told him, turning off the light and crawling into bed, flicking the alarm set button on my clock.

"Night Merlin. At least I like you."

Beep. Beeeep. BEEEEEP!

"Huh?" I pressed snooze on my clock, then the off switch and then rolled over. Five thirty, practically cuss words in the morning. Merlin walked around my bed and jumped on me, licking my face.

"Okay, okay, I'm up. No need to freak out." I pulled back my covers and sat up, rubbing my eyes. Merlin attacked me with his nose until I got up and turned the light on.

"Go get your leash." I muttered, letting him out of my room as I went into the bathroom. I flicked on the light, and sighed at my head of crazy curls. That's what I get for sleeping with wet hair. I brushed my teeth and washed my face methodically as I waited for the hair straightener to warm up. It took less time than usually to tame the abundance of dark curls, so I did a quick French braid and headed for my closet.

My closet is small, as wide as a door and about an arm's length deep, containing a skinny vertical shelf-thing on one side and a rod and my hung clothes on the other. My socks and underwear sat on the shelf thing, while my clothes hung up beside. I didn't like having a lot of clothes, although I have a lot of costumes for dance.

I bought most of my own things with my money from teaching dance classes, so I really didn't over-indulge. It made me feel bad to have Kevin spend his paycheck on me.

I pulled on my apparently 'oatmeal' coloured sweater and a pair of jeans, grabbing a pair of mismatched socks along with my nice boots. By nice boots I mean not my winter boots.

It was silent in the hallway, and I let out a sigh. My house was always more relaxing early in the morning.

I tip toed down the stairs out of habit, walking on the balls of my feet to the kitchen. The light was already on, which was peculiar, but Kevin's been getting so little sleep that it's really no surprize. He probably raided the fridge last night and forgot to turn off the light.

I looked across the barren counters, and the empty sink. No unattended plate. Okay, now that's weird. Something nudged my leg, and I jumped.

Merlin dropped the leash and grinned at me.

"You're a dork." I grumbled at him, running a hand over his head between his ears.

I grabbed a rice cake and stuck it in my mouth, rummaging through the pantry for lunch items. I found two juice boxes of fruit punch, a chocolate-covered granola bar, dried apple slices and a lonely packet of Ritz crackers. Grabbing a brown paper bag I stuffed my items inside and left it on the counter while I scavenged the fridge for any leftovers Kevin brought home. I found a box of cookies in the fridge, and daintily removed one, popping it in my mouth. Merlin nudged my leg.

"Coming, coming." I closed the fridge and grabbed my lunch, making my way to the front door when I noticed an abundance of shoes.

Crap.

Crap.

Crapcrapcrapcrapcra-

"Oh, you must be Braylynn." I froze, my eyelids closing tightly. Darn you to pieces, crap memory! I slowly turned to see a young couple about half way down the stairs. Seriously, am I supposed to believe these people are related to Leah?

Oh wait, they're not. They're her freaky vampire friendy-people. Her 'pack leader' is in love with one of the couples' toddlers.

Oh boy.

"That's me." I replied quickly, stuffing my lunch into my bag and grabbing Merlin's leash.

"I'm Esme and this is my husband Carlisle." Esme introduced her husband and herself. I nodded, grabbing my jacket.

"Lovely." I responded, opening the door and ushering Merlin through it. Esme looked like she was going to say something else but I closed the door. I quickly descended the steps in case they decided to join me or anything terrifying like that.

Merlin happily pulled me up and down our country road, crossing the road and sniffing the ground like his nose was going to fall off before he dragged me home.

Just approaching the house I could see more lights on. I climbed the steps to the door. Let the fun commence. The door swung open.

"Hi! I'm Nessie! I'm five! What's your name? You're Braylynn, aren't you? Can I call you Bray-Bray? Can we be best friends? Let's be best friends! Will you braid my hair?" I sighed and gently led the little girl back into the house. I noticed there were other people in the front hall/foyer, including Carlise and Esme.

"Will you braid my hair?" Nessie asked breathlessly as I took off Merlin's leash. I picked up my backpack.

"Maybe when I get back." I murmured quickly to appease her. Her face lit up and she ran over and attacked my legs, wrapping her arms around my lower thighs and burying her head against my side. Then she looked up at me.

"We're going to be besties!" She cheered. I gave her a quick smile.

"That's wonderful. Well, I'll see you later, bestie." And efficiently detached her from my legs.

I spared no time slipping back outside and heading down the driveway.

"BYE BESTIE!" Nessie shouted from the house. I waved, and made my way to the bus, sliding in next to Sam. She gave me a mock look of concern.

"Am I being replaced?" She asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Test not my patience, dear friend." I replied, digging out my copy of Romeo and Juliet. I found my bookmark and continued to read.

"Thou art a procrastinator if I ever knew of one." Sam said, pulling an apple out if her bag.

"Hey, you're telling me you did all your reading for Chem? I don't think so."

"No, but I'm going to do it at lunch. Did you read the pages for Les Mis?"

"Yup."

"Want to summarize it?" I looked over at her and rolled my eyes.

"Hypocrite."

"I never said I wasn't."

I opened the door slowly, my backpack weighing me down with all my novels and textbooks. My plastic bag from the grocery swayed as I tip toed inside.

"Glad to see you made home. Get lost in the grocery store along the way, I see?" Leah greeted me from the stairs, a basket of laundry resting on her hip. Nessie and Merlin raced down the hall and Nessie jumped into my arms.

"You're back!" She cheered. I shifted her to my hip so I could close the door. I slipped off my shoes and set her down.

"Will you braid my hair now?" She asked, her large brown eyes widening as she blinked, her long lashes colliding with one another as the lids opened and closed.

"Sure. C'mon." I led her upstairs, allowing her to run into my room and hop on my bed.

"I like your room. It's very pink, though. I like green." She said as I patted Merlin and dipped into the bathroom in search of hair things.

"I know. It's been pink forever." I told her as I returned to my bed, setting my backpack and grocery bag on my bed. Merlin hopped up and curled into a little fuzzy circle by my pillows.

"Sit in front of me." I told her, positioning her so I could start brushing her hair.

"Do you like school?" She asked, her little fingers drawing imaginary designs on top of my knees.

"I guess. I like English and History." I offered. Her hair was really long.

"I think I'll like school. Mommy and Daddy said I can go when I stop growing." I grabbed a few scrunchies and put them on my wrist.

"Real mommy and daddy or pretend mommy and daddy?"

"Both. Jake says I'm going to be the smartest in my class."

"I'm sure you will be." Nessie fell silent for a while.

"Do you like Auntie Leah?" Well that left me stumped.

"It's an interesting relationship." I said after a pregnant pause.

"Oh. That's good that you love each other, though. 'Cause you're gonna be sisters soon."

"Mm."

Nessie allowed me to work in silence after that. She swung her legs over the side of my bed, softly kicking the side.

"All done." I murmured as I finished. Nessie hopped off of the bed.

"Dinner!" I heard Kevin call from downstairs.

"Let's go!" Nessie exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the dining room.

"Look Mommy! Look Daddy! Braylynn braided my hair!" Nessie bounced over to an already seated couple and jumped on who I presume to be her mother's lap.

"How nice." Her mom answered, glancing at me disapprovingly. Well, I thought it looked nice.

"Bray, can you bring out the plates?" Kevin called from the kitchen. I turned on my heel and slipped through the entrance to the kitchen.

Kevin was pulling off chunks of meat from a maple spiral ham. A massive casserole dish was filled to the rim with scalloped potatoes covered in cheese, and a large bowl was brimming with green beans covered in butter and salt.

"How many?" I asked as I started stacking plates.

"Um, eight I think."

"Right-o." I grabbed the required plates and utensils and brought them to the dining room.

Just in case you're wondering, our house is huge. Mostly because my mom thought she was going to have a small army of children. Obviously it didn't turn out that way.

So when I saw the dining room full for the first time ever, I balked. I didn't even know we could fit this many, so I stood there in shock until Kevin walked in.

"Dr. and Ms. Cullen, Ms. Clearwater, Chief Swan, Bella, Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Seth, Jacob and Nessie." Kevin relayed. I nodded, following him and tried to identify who ate human food. Rule of thumb; skip the pale ones, and give the kid a plate.

"Did you grab the cups?" Leah asked as she walked in with the napkins. I motioned to the table.

"Of course. I knew you'd only want the finest imaginary glassware for our guests." Leah rolled her eyes and we glared at each other for a second until Kevin came around the corner carrying a tray of glasses. Leah sat down and I sat a chair away from her so Kevin could sit in between us.

"Shall we say grace?" Leah's mom asked.

"Take it away, Bray." Leah said. I glared at her. I felt all eyes on me.

"God is good, God is great. Bless this food upon our plates." I said quickly. A few people raised their eyes at me, and Kevin burst out laughing. He knew that the only graces I knew were from summer camp when I was eight.

Insert awkward silence here. I kept my eyes down and tried to eat as fast as etiquette allowed.

"So Braylynn, how was school?" I swallowed and looked up to see…Chief Swan looking at me… I think.

"Not so good. I have to go back tomorrow." I could feel Kevin glancing over at me, thinking _Maybe I should've left her in her room_, well too late now, brother.

"I'm sure it's not that bad." He said. My plate was cleared. I think that was an almost ridiculous speed.

"May I be excused?" I asked, glancing at Kevin.

"Hot date?" I turned to see who I think is Emmett.

"Yeah. With my Physics homework."

"You're excused, Sassmaster." Emmett said, grinning. I picked up my plate and cup and slipped into the kitchen, hearing Merlin's nails click against the floor as he trailed after me.

"Proxima Centauri's the nearest star. The celestial bodies that follow are: Alpha Centauri A, Toli, Barnard's Star, um," I flipped the page and began reading the other side when I heard a knock.

"Who is it?" The door cracked open, and I saw little Nessie standing in front of Jacob.

"I think I left my bracelet in here." Nessie murmured, not looking at me.

"'Kay. I haven't seen it, but you can check. Wolf 359, Laland 21185, Sirius A, Sirius B, BL Ceti, UV Ceti, Ross 154, Ross 248, Epsilon Eridani," I continued to read out the list as Nessie entered and flitted around the room in search of her bracelet. A minute later, she gave up and left.

"Those are the stars that are nearest to me. Tra la la and fiddle de de." I reached for my water to discover I had drunk it all. With an audible sigh I patted down the hallway and trotted into the deserted kitchen. Well, I thought it was deserted.

"Hey." I jumped, releasing my glass cup from my grasp. I watched it tumble to the ground and shatter loudly.

"Sorry! Sorry! Oh my God, I'm so sorry. Don't move. Here, I've got you." Leah's brother picked me up and placed me on the counter. I hopped off, giving him a little glare. The last time someone had picked me up, I'd been ten and it was because I was pretending to be dead for drama class.

"It's just glass. I'm not a balloon, you know. I won't pop or anything." I grumbled, grabbing the broom from the closet.

"Braylynn!" He gasped. I just lifted my eyebrows at him.

"Yeah, what?"

"If you bleed, it'll make everyone… uncomfortable." I paused, and he grabbed the broom from me.

"You mean everyone will want to eat me."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"What about you? What if you bleed?" I sat back on the counter, forgetting about my science homework.

"Don't worry. I don't smell yummy, like humans. Vampires and werewolves smell gross to each other."

"Oh," Was my exciting and intelligent response.

"Mhmm." He murmured, concentrating on sweeping the floor. When he was done, I grabbed the dust pan for him and he neatly swept the shards into a plastic bag, and then tossed the bag into the garbage.

I filled up a new cup of water, and scanned the fridge for any goodies.

"Hungry?" He asked, leaning back on the counter. I shrugged, grabbed a carrot and closed the door.

"Either that or bored. Can't tell which." He nodded at my comment, and I turned to leave the kitchen.

"Braylynn?" I stopped and glanced back at Seth.

"Yeah?" My eyes locked with his internal mugs of coffee. Don't judge me, that's what they look like!

"I don't think you're so bad." He said, taking a step towards me, and I reflexively took a step back. He looked, well, sad?

"Bray?" I blinked, and snapped back to reality.

"Gotta go. G'night." I said quickly, before spinning on my heel and rushing off to bed.

A/N: I've been working on this story for awhile, and I have a few more chapters already written if this goes over well. Please review and tell me if I made any grammatical errors, ect.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

I woke up surrounded by my homework.

"Proxima Centauri's the nearest star. The celestial bodies that follow are: Alpha Centauri A," I began the star song again, reciting it under my breath while I rushed around my room, grabbing things and shoving them into my dance bag.

I ran a brush through my hair, and then a toothbrush over my teeth before emerging into the hallway. I tip toed down the stairs before quietly setting my bag by the door.

"Oh, I need my practice CD." I said to myself, making my way to the living room. Or should I say couple's room? Carlisle, Esme, Bella, Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper sat in their own little bubbles with laptops or books. They glanced up as I walked in.

"Right. No sleeping." I muttered to myself, grabbing the CD from the shelf before anyone said anything.

"We're going dress shopping today." Alice called out.

"Have fun." I responded, and gave her a little wave before briskly walking to the kitchen.

Leah was in the kitchen, ready to make my morning less enjoyable.

"Morning brat."

"Morning oxygen thief." I responded as I grabbed a granola bar and retreated towards the front door. I'll eat cafeteria food just to get away from her. Kevin was descending the stairs in his pajamas. He smiled when he saw me, but then his face turned into an annoyed look, one I'd been quite used to as of late.

"Morning Bray. Where are you going?"

"To dance." I said, motioning to my bag as I heaved it over one shoulder.

"I thought you girls were going dress shopping today."

"Yeah no. Not me. Although I think Alice is planning something, so you may want to consult with her."

"Bray, the dresses are for the wedding." Kevin was wide awake now. I shrugged, slipping on my shoes and praying Sam was already in the drive way.

"What will you wear to the wedding then?" He said, crossing his arms. I saw Mr. Swan and Ms. Clearwater coming down the stairs, followed by a drowsy Seth and Jacob. Leah and the vamps emerged out of the living room and kitchen.

"I don't know if I'm going, okay?" I said, and you could hear a pin drop. Someone lightly knocked, and I practically threw the door open so I could turn away from the dozen-or-so pairs of disapproving eyes.

"Morning!" Samantha cheered, ever so chipper. I slipped out the door and ran down the steps.

"Get in the car before Kev runs out here." I told her. She rolled her eyes.

"Gosh, I felt like I was walking into a warzone it seemed so tense." I nodded, pulling my bag onto my lap for the ride.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Nope. How was 'date night' last night?" She smiled at my obvious change of topic, but went with it.

"Well, Drew took me to the Italian restaurant again…"

"Night Bray." Sam said, dropping me off. It was shortly after seven o'clock, and I felt dead. The chipper had nearly drained away from Sam's voice, a result of dancing and teaching classes all day. Sam rolled down her window.

"Watch your ankle. We don't want you injured before competition." Samantha said, her eyes flicking to the foot I had no pressure on.

"I just landed kind of weird. It'll be fine by Monday, all I'm doing tomorrow is History and Chem stuff." I responded, yawning before giving her a little wave. She drove off, and I realized I'd have to face Kevin sometime soon.

I open the door a smidgen to check if the coast was clear before ditching my shoes at the front door and dashing upstairs to my room. My ankle protested a little, but my brain told it to shut up.

I dropped my bag by my door and froze.

Lying on my bed was a lilac colored silk dress. I sighed, limping over to the dress before lifting it up to inspect it. It was about knee length with enough ruffles to make me look like a living flower. The top part was nice, with some beading and little ruffle-y sleeves that hung off the shoulders. It was a nice dress, overall.

"It'll fit you. Alice is pretty good at picking sizes." I spun on my heel and winced before glancing up at Seth, who was now making his way into my bedroom.

"Hey!" I cried as he picked me up and set me on my bed. It seemed like he was beginning a new bad habit.

"You're hurt." He accused. I shrugged.

"My ankle is sore. I'll be fine." I grumbled back, pushing him away roughly before hopping back onto the ground in defiance. I winced again and limped as I made my way to pick up my bag and put it in the closet.

"You should let Carlisle see it. He is a doctor,"

"Yeah, I know, okay? I'm fine." I growled, tossing my bag into my closet.

"You should at least put some ice on it." He said, his eyes sucking me in. I shook my head and glared at him.

"Go. Away." He looked hurt, but he turned and left.

I felt grumpy after Seth left. My whole body was sore from all the physical activity, but my ankle was now throbbing painfully. The only thing I could think of doing was sitting it on a bunch of pillows and taking a nap.

When I woke up, my foot was freezing! I jerked it off a mountain of pillows to find an ice pack wrapped around it with a tensor bandage underneath. I threw off the ice pack, gingerly kicked the pillows onto the ground and sat up, rubbing my eyes. 7AM on a Sunday. Ew.

I limped to the bathroom and took a quick shower. My tangerine scented conditioner left me in a semi-cheerful mood as I literally hopped out of the shower. I did a crappy job of drying my hair before twisting it into a bun.

I hop/skipped to my closet and threw on my grey track pants that read _Studio G_ on the side before grabbing a red polo shirt.

I found my tensor bandage strewn over my desk chair, the ice pack on the floor. I picked up the ice pack and grabbed the bandage before limping towards the door.

The hall was empty, and the stairs, and the main foyer area. At least a dozen more pairs of shoes sat on the front door mat, and I made a quiet grumbling noise as I hobbled towards the kitchen.

"Good morning Braylynn." The vamp doctor greeted, giving me a smile that didn't reach his eyes. His wife stood slightly behind him, cooking what appeared to be a large glob of scrambled eggs.

"Is it? Is it really?" I asked, sliding by to open the freezer door and deposit the ice pack inside. I was getting really tired of other people.

"How is your ankle?" He asked, his eyebrows lifting up slightly in challenge. At least that's what it felt like. I glared at him as Seth walked in, followed by two other huge people.

"My ankle is none of your concern." I said through gritted teeth, turning to glare at Seth who shrank away from my gaze.

"You'll seriously injure it if you don't take proper care." said Carlisle. Esme was looking at me with a gaze of concentration, as if she was willing me to behave.

"I don't remember asking you for your advice." I replied, agitated but unwilling to leave the kitchen without food. Carlisle sighed and crossed his arms.

"You can fight with me all you want, but it won't help any when you further hurt your ankle and can never dance." He said. I selected my apple and box of cereal and turned to leave.

" So you're Braylynn. They really weren't exaggerating." Said one of the tall, bulky men. He looked much older than Seth or Jacob, like in his late twenties or early thirties.

"I'm sure whatever they told you is 100 per cent the truth." I said, mildly sarcastically as I pushed through them with a hop-limp. And ran into Kevin, messy hair, dark eye bags and all.

"Morning." I said.

"Don't. Just… don't." He replied, quickly vanishing into the depths of the kitchen. The main foyer was suddenly packed with people clad in pajamas. They looked at me as I hobbled to the stairs, and I tried to pretend like they weren't there, and that I wasn't upset that Kevin was upset.

"Braylynn," I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I jumped, the text book that had been sitting on my face falling off my bed and landing on the carpet with a dull thud. It was Sue, Leah's mom. I just stared at her for a minute, and relaxed under her gaze. It was odd, looking at her looking at me. She didn't have that judgmental gaze that seemed to be permanently affixed to my person.

"We're having a bonfire outside. Why don't you come join us?" I blinked and then hesitantly nodded.

"Uh, sure?"

"Bring a blanket." She ordered, and I nodded. She smiled and left. What had I just agreed to?

Apparently I had agreed to three hours of mind numbingly boring not-so-legendary-legends that were the history of Leah and her freaky friends. Luckily I spent my time counting the leaves on the ground around Billy Black's wheelchair and the number of hotdogs consumed by the boys. The count was seventy-three and thirty-four, respectively. I had eaten seven roasted marshmallows with chocolate in an attempt to raise my blood sugar levels and overall awareness. Needless to say my sweets intake had been a careless blunder because now I want to curl up beside the fire and hibernate until spring.

Edward just shot me a look from across the fire. Hey, I didn't say anything about having a fabulous internal monologue. He looked away.

"Thirty-five," I murmured as the one known as Paul raised another hot dog to his mouth. He glared at me.

"Who even invited you?" He growled, interrupting Billy's story about some ancestor's wife.

"Um, Mrs. Clearwater. And I shouldn't really need to be invited, considering this is my backyard." He started shaking.

"You think you're so great. Well, you'd be kibble already if Seth didn't-"

"Enough!" Sam and Jake shouted at the same time. Nessie started crying, and ran over to Bella. Edward glared at me. Hey, he started it this time.

"Paul, just let it go. You were dumb when you were sixteen, weren't you?" Said Rachel, attempting to soothe Paul. Well great. Another day ruined by Bray. I felt the same awkward feeling I got when Kelsey had knocked me over last year in the middle of our duet, and I had forgotten the choreography on stage. My stomach seemed to have disappeared, and my chest sort of hurt. I looked at the ground to avoid everyone's eyes and wordlessly grabbed my blanket and stood up.

"Wait." Seth called, and I could hear him stomping through the leaves as he stepped over everyone, but I really just wanted to hide under my covers and pretend like I didn't exist. He caught me at the door to the back hall, and he grabbed my hand.

"Don't go, Braylynn. Wait, are you crying?" That was all I had left in me. I cascaded my blanket over his face, pulled my hand away from his, and slipped in the door before locking it. The front door was open anyways.

He just had to go and say it, didn't he? I was now bawling as I made my way to the staircase. I pulled myself up the stairs, relying heavily on the railing before bursting through my door, locking the door and closing my curtains.

Stupid Edward could probably read my thoughts still, and I kind of wanted to just morph into a ladybug and run under someone's shoe. I crawled under the covers so that I was completely submerged before pulling myself into a ball and deciding it was in my best interest to not leave my room for the remainder of the weekend.

**A/N: So a few people have looked at my story. I hope you're enjoying it :) If you have any comments/questions, please review. I'd love some feedback!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

"Mr. Douglas only had nice things to say about your History paper." Sammie said in an attempt to cheer me up as we rode home on our Monday bus. It was approaching two weeks until the wedding, with my dance competition being on this Saturday and the wedding being on the Saturday after.

"Yeah. I spent all of Sunday on it." I mumbled, groaning as the bus hit a pothole and my head smacked against the window. Sam frowned.

"Well, spoil-sport, since you didn't ask I have plans with Drew tonight. We're going to a movie."

"Have fun." I said half-heartedly as we turned onto my street. The bus stopped by the end of my driveway and I gingerly walked off, feeling strangely optimistic about my ankle. Sam waved to me as the bus drove away, and I felt my phone buzzing in my backpack. It was Kevin. I let it ring until the last ring and I picked up.

"Hello?... Gotcha! Sorry I'm not here right now. Please leave a message after the tone! TONE!" I said into my cheap cell with all the enthusiasm I could muster.

"I'm ordering pizza for dinner. What do you want?" How about not pizza, for starters?

"I don't care. I'm not really hungry. Why don't you phone one of the walking-talking stomachs?" I could hear him chuckle on the other side, and a small part of me exploded with happiness.

"Don't you dare tell them I laughed at that." He threatened. I grinned, biting on the aglet of my hoodie.

"Kay. Love you." The words were out of my mouth before I had a chance to fight the habit.

"Love you too. I'll be home by 5." And the phone was dead, I stood paralyzed in the driveway for a few minutes before I forced myself to approach the cage of doom, I mean, my house.

There were enough shoes on the mat that I could barely open the door wide enough to squeeze through. I kicked off my shoes and tossed them in the closet. Across the foyer Nessie, Jake and Seth sat together, colouring. Nessie glanced up at me but then shied away, hiding behind Jake. Seth glanced up, standing up as I began to ascend the staircase.

"Can we talk?" He asked, following me up the stairs. My heart was drumming in my chest.

"No."

"Please?"

"No. I have homework, you know." I said, making it to my bedroom door before he grabbed my hand.

"Please Bray, I just have to-"

"Seriously Seth, leave me alone!" I ended up raising my voice, and he let go, looking hurt. I felt the urge to wrap my arms around him and apologize, but fought the urge.

"So you're just going to sit up in your room forever?" Said my favourite person in the world, Paul. Rachel stood behind him, grabbing his hand as she saw me, as if I was the dangerous one.

"No. I'm going to sit in my room for two weeks." I said, elegantly slipping into my room and locking the door with grace. I walked over to my bed and lied down, eager to have a nap and ignore everyone.

"She's just a stupid little brat. If I was her brother I would have put her in foster care. Why does he even bother?" Said Paul outside my door.

"Some people just like hurting others, okay? Please don't cry, Seth." I heard Rachel say. I pulled a pillow to my chest and resisted the urge to scream and cuss at them. Tears began streaming down my face and then I heard Seth quietly sob.

"C'mon Seth. Let's go talk to Sam." Said Rachel. I jumped as someone pounded on my door.

"What a JERK!" Paul yelled at me. I bit the corner of my pillow, completely forgetting about my homework. It was quiet after they went downstairs, but I knew everyone would be able to hear if I cried. I buried my face in my pillow and recited my solo choreography in my head.

"Bray." I heard Kevin knock on my door. I lifted my head to discover it was much darker. My clock read 5:12.

"Yeah?" I called back quietly. My stomach made soft grumble noises. I was starving.

"I brought home pizza. Are you going to come eat?" I paused for a minute, thinking about zipping down and grabbing a slice but knowing Kevin would make me sit with everyone. And everyone included annoying Seth, scary Paul, agitating Rachel, stupid Edward, creepy Carlisle and freakin' rude and dangerous Leah.

"I'm not hungry." I lied. I could smell the pizza, the scent mouth-watering. Which is weird because I'm not overly fond of pizza.

"You sure? Are you not feeling well?" He said the second part quieter, as if anything would be kept secret around here.

"I'm fine." I lied.

"Okay, well there should be some sandwich stuff in the fridge if you're hungry later." He and I both knew that the pizza didn't stand a chance against the wolves.

And then Kevin was gone.

My stomach hurt from not eating, but I got up early to finish my homework. I took a shower and texted Sammie to tell me when the bus turned onto my street. When she texted my back, I ran out my door, descended the staircase and threw open the door dashing for the bus and avoiding all contact with Leah's family.

"They can't be that bad." Sam said as I sat down beside her, panting. I had a headache from dehydration and I knew I looked bad.

"Did you pull an all-nighter?" She asked.

"No."

"Well you look like crap." I cast her a questioning look, raising one of my eyebrows.

"I woke up early to finish my homework." I said, and we sat in silence until we neared the school. As we got off the school bus I remembered that Sammie had gone on her date last night.

"How was the movie?" I asked as we made our way to the doors. She stopped, turned and glared at me.

"Like you don't know, you bitch." And then she turned back and walked briskly away. Well that wasn't weird.

In the hall, everyone avoid me. I said hi to a few people from my classes, but they kept their heads down. What the heck? Do I have something on my face? I must really look like crap today.

I got to my locker, swinging my bag onto one shoulder as I jerked the combination into the lock. That's strange; there isn't much in my locker, so it's usually easy to open. I pulled off the lock and the door swung open, engulfing me in what must have been easily 2000 neatly stacked pieces of paper. The sheer weight of the stack knocked me down, and the papers floated all over the place. I tried to get up but I slipped on a page before realizing what was written on it. The message was on both sides of the page, typed in bold.

_Braylynn Hart is kniving evil slut and if you think so you should tell her._

The bell rang for first period, and people awkwardly shuffled around me as I attempted to stack papers and throw them in nearby recycling bins.

It took half an hour for me to dispose of the papers into the bins as I filled the three located in my hall and had to trek it to the other halls. Mr. Douglas raised his eyebrows as I walked in but made no comment. He probably thought I slept in, judging by my raccoon eyes.

"Hiya, slut." Whispered a girl I'd never talked to as I walked down the aisle to my seat.

"Hey slut, wanna bang?" Said Timothy Badger, a boy I'd knew from kindergarten.

"Slut."

"Slut."

"Slut."

I finally made it to my seat where Jordan Haney, one of the nicest people I knew was sitting. I sat down and he pushed me over a note. I unfolded it.

Slut.

It turns out that everyone had only been instructed to ignore me until I had opened my locker. Walking down the hallway was terrifying. Girls would purposely bump me into lockers while calling me names while some guys would comment on how 'great I was' and 'when could they bang again?'. I rushed to physics and sat down. The teacher announced that she was checking our homework completion and I relaxed somewhat, feeling confident in my work until I opened my binder and found WHORE written on every page in black marker, including my homework from last night. Katie Smith, who sat in front of me in History gave me a little wave and a smirk. I closed my binder.

Physics was mainly the same, except Sammie was now sitting with Katie and her friends. Occasionally they'd look over at me and their whispers would multiply. The teacher gave us our homework and let us out early.

The hallway was much the same except for Leo Van Dyke, the receiver on the football team, tripped me before the stairs and I'd almost fallen down them. His friends made sexual noises as they walked by and I felt tears coming to my eyes as I pulled myself up by the railing. There was no way I was going to suffer through the rest of school. I gingerly walked down the stairwell as the late bell rang. I knew it was Drew's lunch, so I phoned him.

"Yo?"

"Hi Drew, it's Bray. Do you know what's up with Sam? She was really weird this morning."  
"Yeah, she's pissed 'cause we fucked." He said, and I could hear a group laughing in the background.

"I don't know what kind of messed-up drugs you're on, but I NEVER did anything with you."

"Did you hear that?" He said, and the people in the background exploded into laughter.

"Did you tell her that we did?" I yelled into the phone as I made my way off the school property. He laughed.

"Um, yeah. Don't worry though. You're much better than she was." More laughing. I ended the call, feeling tears coming to my eyes. What the heck? Drew was such a nice guy. And now he's some creeper? And Sam thinks we did something together.

"Well the joke's on her because she's acting like an ass hat and I didn't do anything." I said, kicking a stone. I stopped for a traffic light.

"The joke's on me because now I have no friends." I murmured. Well shoot.

It took me another twenty minutes to walk to the dance studio, which was closed for another half hour. I waited for Miss Leslie to drive in, and I jumped up when she did. She was in her sixties, with brown-grey hair pulled into a loose bun. Her face was warm but concerned, her smile lines well worn into her face.

"Braylynn, what are you doing here?" I felt my emotional walls collapse and I rushed forward and hugged her, sobbing. This was not how I planned it. She gently patted my back and pushed me towards the studio.

"I suppose I'm in for a chat." She said, patting my back.

We went out for Japanese food, which was really good and filling since I hadn't had dinner, breakfast or lunch. I told her all I knew of the story, and Miss Leslie cancelled the group dance and helped me with my solo when we got back to the studio. I taught one of her classes and worked the desk until Kelso and Jasmine came to take over.

When the studio closed for the night Kelso drove me home.

"Night Bray." He said with a yawn. I threw on my best courage smile.

"Night. Thanks for the drive, I'll see you tomorrow right?"

"Yup."

He drove away and I walked up to the door. Hopefully everyone was getting ready for bed.

"So nice of you to come home." Said Leah as I walked in. I rolled my eyes at her as I took off my shoes. My shoulder hurt from falling in the stairwell.

"We got a call from the school. You skipped two classes." Leah said, her arms crossed.

"So?" I said, realizing I hadn't come up with a cover story.

"You can't just run of with some boy and not tell anyone, not to mention the fact that you skipped school." She ranted. Bingo. Cover story obtained.

"He's not just some boy, his name's Kelso and he's very nice. Besides, I can afford to miss some school. It's not like we were going to do anything in class today anyways." I said just as Kevin popped his head outside of his and Leah's bedroom.

"Bray? Where were you?"

"She was with some guy named Kelso." I saw something change in Kevin's sleepy look.

"You were with Kelso Lochland all day?" He said, emerging from his room clad in Christmas pyjamas.

"Not _all_ day…" I said, trailing off. I'd have to text Kelso to cover for me later. He's do it because he's actually a sweetheart. Kevin ran a hand through his hair.

"If you skip school again you can't go to the competition on Saturday." He said, watching for my reaction.

"No way! First of all, that's a team thing and second of all, you're soooooo overreacting to this. As if you never skipped school." I said, crossing my arms. Terror was gripping me from the inside. What if it was the same thing tomorrow?

"Well, that's my only offer." Kevin said, motioning for Leah to join him in their bedroom.

"Whatever." I said in usual teenager fashion.

I was so not prepared for the next day.

**A/N: Please review. Tell me what you liked/didn't like. I'll reply to everything :)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

It was like the first day had only been warm-up. Wherever I walk, the sea of kids parted, and I walked clear except for the projectiles thrown my way. The short list included paper balls, spit and derogatory names.

Drew shrugged as I walked by, and the football team members high-fived him as I walked by. He looked almost apologetic, as if he really cared. It was obvious he didn't, as the whole ordeal was half his fault.

By lunch time I was scouting out somewhere to hide. There were girls in the cafeteria, boys in the halls, note-passers and whisperers in the library and graffiti on bathroom stalls. People who had known me since preschool had flipped a switch and acted like I was public enemy #1. Heck, I was public enemy #1.

I decided to grab my lunch from my locker and eat in the math hall, so no one could bug me. You're not even supposed to be in the math hall during a period, but Ms. Eccelston always had a soft spot for me since I sucked at her class.

I was making my way up the stairs when I was suddenly not making my way up the stairs. A hand pushed me, and I found myself falling backwards, my shoulders taking the brunt of the impact while my head smashed on the cement stair. I heard a giggle and a gasp, and the sound of running footsteps.

I'm not really sure if I passed out or not, but my head really hurt when I got up. Everything was moving slightly, and I half crawled up the stairs to get to my locker.

I grabbed my coat and went butt-first down the stairs.

I didn't care that Kevin was going to kill me. Someone here might beat him to it. I took out my phone and searched through my contacts before hitting the call button.

"Mrs. Leslie, I'm at Brickwood and Main and I feel like I'm going to collapse and I was wondering if you could pick me up?

"Really honey, you should see a doctor." Mrs. Leslie chided as I took two Tylenol pills. She held my icepack in place until I put the cup down and could hold it myself.

"Leah's step-sister's father in law is a doctor, so I'll just see him then."

"I don't know. I'm going to phone Kevin-"

"NO!" I shouted, standing up. My head pounded and I sat back down. "Please don't. He's been under so much stress lately; I don't want to bother him." That and I've been under stress about him marrying the most dangerous person I can think of.

"Oh hon, I know he would want to be bothered with something like this."

"I don't even feel that bad." I said desperately as kids began to walk up to the studio door.

"Fine. Just sit at the counter and try not to look so injured." Mrs. Leslie said. I followed her order and proceeded to greet parents and doodle on a blank pad of paper.

Mrs. Leslie gave me a list of practise CDs to make for the kids, which I spent three hours working on until Kelso and Jasmine arrived. Kelso gawked at me as he came in and ran over to give me a hug.

"Oh doll. We've really got to get things fixed up, huh? You keep trouping, okay? Jasmine and I will think of something." He murmured in my ear and kissed the top of my head as he grabbed one of the finished CDs.

Mrs. Leslie came out dressed in her coat and I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"I'm just going to drive Braylynn home and I'll be right back," she said to Jasmine as she went to go find her keys. Jasmine, who was a grade over me, looked me in the eye and said "Sam is out of control." I nearly said thanks. Kelso nodded in agreement as he grabbed the rest of the CDs for his class.

The drive home was quiet. Miss Leslie used to be friends with my grandmother, so she knew where I lived. She pulled up and insisted she come inside.

"I haven't seen Kevin in ages." She reasoned, but I knew she was going to tell him. I opened the door to find Carlisle and Esme sitting on the steps. They stood up when they saw me.

"There you are! Did you stay late at school?" Esme asked, walking towards me. I knew that she already knew the whole story.

"Um, this is my dance teacher Miss Leslie." I introduced. Miss Leslie smiled at them.

"I was looking for Kevin." She said before looking at me.

"Why don't you go have a rest? You worked hard today." Miss Leslie said, and I ducked my head before making my way to my bedroom.

I went and took a cool shower, gently rubbing the bump on the back of my head that was throbbing dully. I spent most of my time trying to figure out how to hide all the bruises I'd obtained, some of which were turning interesting colours.

I got out of the shower and put on my pyjamas, hoping that everyone had already had dinner and that no one would bother me.

There was a knock on my door.

"Bray?" The door creaked open to reveal Esme and Sue. Really? Really?

"Yeah?" I said, picking up my school stuff and moving it to my desk. Please don't be here to talk about the thing, please don't be here to talk about the thing-

"Why don't we have a talk?" Said Esme, sitting down on my bed. Sue sat beside her and they both patted the empty spot in unison. They were here to talk about the thing.

"Why don't we not?" I replied quietly from the opposite side of the room, one hand holding my desk chair.

"You're not in trouble." Sue said, and I looked down, feeling my face heat up. Was I really feeling bad about something that wasn't my fault?

"Didn't Miss Leslie tell you everything? Or Alice, or Edward?"

"We've got the gist of it, but why don't you come sit down? It will only take a few minutes." I forced myself to sit beside them before grabbing a pillow and squeezing it to my chest. Sue patted my head and murmured "It's okay to cry." This was apparently the password to open the flood gates.

"Oh sweetie." Esme said, wrapping her cold arms around me. Merlin hopped up and lay against my side. I pet him so I didn't have to focus on them.

"We'll go in and talk to the principal tomorrow." Esme said. I looked up in horror.

"Or I could switch schools. Or get homeschooled." I said quickly, putting out all the available options.

"Braylynn, just because these people attacked you doesn't mean that you should let them win."

"Why not? They all know they're wrong. They're just hoping if they say it enough times then everyone will believe it. And they do." I said, hiccupping as I rubbed my eyes. I heard the door squeak open, and Seth stood at the door.

"I think we'll leave you two. Carlisle phoned Kevin and your teachers. You have the rest of the week off, and your teachers will be emailing you your work." Sue said, standing up as Seth came over to take her spot. Esme gave me a gentle squeeze before letting me go too. They closed the door behind them.

Seth carefully pulled me into his arms, and I instantly pulled him closer and began to cry again. I felt weak crying to the people I was avoiding like a contact-transmitted disease, but I felt weirdly safe in Seth's arms. We hugged for a while, until I stopped crying.

"Long day, huh?" He whispered. I nodded into his chest, feeling like a dork and not wanting to look him in the eyes.

"They just want to mess with you, Braylynn. I know it hurts, but they're doing it because they're bored, and they're petty, and they're not as great as you." I curled up onto his lap with my chin on his shoulder. He draped his arms over my back and I tried to control my breathing.

It was really peculiar, but I'd never really noticed how awesome Seth smelled. Like petrichor and pine trees. He was really warm, just like the rest of the wolves.

I'm not sure when I fell asleep, but when I woke up it was 7 am and Seth was lying on my floor. I pulled off one of my blankets and grabbed the extra pillow, gently laying the blanket over him and setting the pillow close to him. He pulled it under his head in his sleep. I got back in bed and fell asleep.

When I actually woke up, Seth was gone and my extra blanket was draped on top of me with my extra pillow at my side. It was 10 o'clock, and Merlin jumped on my bed and began to lick my face.

"Go get your leash." I told him, rubbing my eyes and pulling my weary body out of bed.

I quickly ran a brush through my hair and brushed my teeth. My hair was puffy, to match my eyes, so I pulled it up into a bun and washed my face until I stopped resembling a raccoon.

I rolled that stuff on under my eyes to make me look less zombie-ish before going to my closet. I knew I wasn't going to school, but there's no way I'm walking downstairs in lounge pants and a baggy t-shirt.

I found a pair of leggings and my old red sweater (which was actually faded from wear) and pulled on a pair of comfy socks, grabbing my nice boots.

I peeked out my door to find Merlin's happy face smiling back at me, the leash in his mouth.

"You're such a dork." I murmur lovingly before attaching his leash to his collar. He runs down stairs, chasing his tail in the front hall before lying down and rolling over, jumping up again and wagging his tail so hard I thought it would fly off.

"Morning." Alice says from the bottom of the stairs.

"Morning."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Sort of."

"Feeling better?"

"Marginally."

I went to the front hall closet and retrieved my hat and jacket.

"Carlisle says you probably have a concussion and you should be resting."

"I feel fine, Alice. And I'm just walking." I respond, grabbing Merlin's leash and opening the door.

It's a cloudy day, which I'm glad for. Autumn always looks nicer on cloudy days.

Merlin drags me up the driveway before dragging me up and down the road. He almost pulls me into a ditch when he sees a squirrel.

"Merlin! No! Leave the poor squirrel alone!" I say, and he droops his head and lets the creature be.

"Good morning." I turn to find Seth, Jacob, Nessie, and a not-Paul and another little girl behind me.

"Morning." I say, feeling the nervousness consume me. I was such a loser last night.

"Can I pet your dog?" Asked the little girl. I nodded and she skipped over, tugging not-Paul behind her.

"Qwil, can you get me one for my berfday?" She asked. Nessie nervously moved over to pat Merlin's head.

"What's his name?" Asked not-Paul Qwil.

"Merlin."

"That's a cool name. Hi Merlin, I'm Quil, and this is Claire." Said Quil.

"Feeling better?" Seth asked. I could feel my face getting warmer and I shrugged.

"The vamps went hunting, except for Alice and Nessie. Alice is arranging for the flowers, so she went last night." Jacob said. I nodded, trying not to look pleased. At least I didn't have to deal with creepy Ed and Dr. Dead.

"We're going to make brunch when we get back, if you didn't eat. I mean, we're making it regardless, but if you're hungry-" Seth stuttered.

"Yeah, I didn't eat yet. Are all the wolves still here? Won't we have to make a lot? Do we even have enough food?" Apparently no one had thought of this yet.

"I can run in and get more bread, bacon and eggs if someone drives me over." I say as we head back down the driveway.

"I'll drive you over!" Seth says quickly.

"Okay." We get inside the house, which now has an abundance of people puttering about, including Paul and Rachel.

I ignore their presence as I take of Merlin's leash and enter the kitchen. Sam and Emily are sitting at the side counter. I climb onto the counter so I can reach the shelf over the fridge to grab the food money jar.

I grab $60 and hop down, dodging a sleepy wolf on my way back to the front hall.

Seth is waiting at the door with some car keys.

"So you know where the grocery is?" I ask as we get in a rusty old car.

"Nope."

"Okay, take a right here…"


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

We came back with six bags of bacon, sausages, peameal bacon (which Seth insisted upon calling 'Canadian bacon'), bread and fruit.

Jacob had begun to rummage through the cupboards, locating the three largest pans. I dumped the sausage and bacon by him and grabbed a large casserole dish, preheating the oven to 375 degrees.

"What are you doing?" Jacob asked.

"Making French toast. Unless you wanted to make it the slow and tedious way." He let me do my thing.

"Why don't you start doing the toast and cutting the fruit?" I say to Seth, who is standing there in a trance.

"Okay." He began to work.

A crazy half-hour later, we set everything out in the dining room; Jacob yelling "Come and get it!" while Seth hobbled in with the plates and utensils.

I set out the jugs of orange juice and grabbed the glasses.

Seth said down with me and we began to eat as people grabbed their plates and left. Sue sat across from me, smiling as she looked between me and Seth. Huh.

Brunch seemed to go over pretty well, except for when Paul and Rachel decided to sit with us.

"So you told her, then?" He said to Seth.

"Shut up, Paul!"

"Told who what?" I said. Rachel sighed dramatically.

"I guess he didn't tell her." I glared at her. Geez, my morning was going great until now.

"Excuse me." I said, standing up and taking my plate to the kitchen. I'll leave them alone to talk about whatever secret thing fits their fancy.

Since the vampires were gone, I set up my studying stuff in the living room. My history text books and library books were strewn about the ground along with glitter clue, construction paper, tape, markers and poster board. One big piece of poster board with the words '_The Black Plague'_ sat in the centre, the words written in the neatest cursive I could manage while writing with a silver pen. I gingerly opened my glasses case to take out the thick, cliché-d nerd glasses that were contained within.

"Is that your history project?" I looked up to find pack leader Sam, flanked by Jacob, hovering over my.

"Yeah. I mean, it will be, when I get all the stuff on…" They nod at my answer.

"Can we talk to you for a minute?" I nod uncertainly before clearing a path for them to get to the couch. I sit in the armchair, pulling my knees up to my chest.

"Look Braylynn, we all know that you don't get along so well with Leah. And we're not about to go all psychological mumbo-jumbo on you trying to convince to be best friends or anything." said Jacob. Sam nodded along.

"But you need to go to the wedding. For your brother. You can whine and pout all you want, but it's really going to happen, and he's going to resent you if you miss it. And you're going to regret it if you do. Now, we all know that's you're not a fan of, let's call it, our 'supernatural-ness' but you can pretend for one night. And then you can all work it out later." Sam proposed.

"What do you say?" Said Jacob.

"I don't know. I mean, I'll think about it-" Sam stood up at my words, his eyes turning dark and his face solemn.

"Look kid, Leah's a nice girl" I did my best not to scoff, "and she's been deserving happiness for a long time. If you screw that up for her so help me-" Sam was shaking, and Jacob put and hand on his shoulder.

"Think it through, Braylynn." Jacob has to tug Sam to leave with him, and I'm left frozen on the couch for a minute before I get back to working on my project.

Mr. Douglas, who teaches my history class, is by far my favourite teacher. I end up spending about double the amount of time on his assignments as opposed to my other subjects. It helps that I actually like his class and that I'm one of the only students who came in without expecting and easy A.

Four hours later I'm on the cutting-out stage of things, breaking every so often to lie on the floor and work on the timeline at the bottom of my poster. If I work hard enough, maybe he'll keep it as an example for next year.

"Hello Braylynn." I look up, my glasses falling down to the tip of my nose and my eyebrows shooting up. Carlisle and Esme smile at me from the doorway.

"Er, hello." I say, giving them a little wave. Darn, they're back.

They walk in and I begin to grab all my papers.

"There's no need to pack up, Braylynn. We just came into talk." Oh gee whiz.

"Is this the psychological mumbo-jumbo portion Sam and Jacob were referring to?" I asked wearily. They exchanged a quick glance.

"Sam and Jacob talked to you?"

"About the wedding, yeah."

"What did they say?" They sat down on the couch while I remained on the floor. I didn't really enjoy how they looked down at me but I was paralysed with anxiety.

"Um, that I should go," which is true. I mean that _was_ their main message.

"How do you feel about that?" Esme asked. Carlisle was being more quiet than usual. I wonder if Edward told him that I found him like level 87 scary.

"So this is the psychological part." I say, and Esme just smiles at me sadly, which turn my stomach.

"Braylynn, you're very anxious about being around people, even Sue and Charlie." I want to grab my stuff and run but it's too late now. I suppose they could catch me if I tried to run anyways.

"Do you know why you're anxious around other people?"

"If I answered that it would be the same as admitting to it."

"Sweetie, it's nothing to be ashamed of." Esme says. Oh yeah? Go tell that to Paul. I'm sure he'll think up something good to say.

"Look, whatever you're getting at, I don't want to talk about it." I say, picking up some more pages to cut and moving my attention away from the conversation.

"Why don't you like Leah, Braylynn? You liked her at the beginning, when you thought she was normal. What changed?" Carlisle said, breaking his silence-streak.

"I'm not going to talk about it, okay?"

"Why not?" Oh, I don't know, because my opinion doesn't matter anyways? I turn back to working to find that all my books are gone and the rest of my pages have disappeared. I looked back to the couple to find that Carlisle had them neatly stacked on his lap.

"You shouldn't be reading or writing for the next few days. Don't worry about catching up. The main goal is to make sure your brain is not permanently injured from the concussion, so you shouldn't strain yourself.."

"I'm fine." I say, contemplating whether or not to try and take my stuff back.

"Why don't you go take a nap? Or watch some TV? I think some of the boys were setting up the Hobbit." I knew I was red-faced but I couldn't say anything. I silently packed up the rest of my project stuff, sans confiscated items. I hated being treated like a child, and I felt so judged by everyone I just wanted to spontaneously combust. Then everything would go off without a hitch, and I wouldn't be alive to be frustrated at everyone.

I took my half-completed project back to my room, setting it on my desk before flopping down onto my bed. I couldn't have a nap because Carlisle had suggested it so I put my music on very, very quietly. Halfway through going over my solo choreography in my head, I was interrupted.

"Can you turn that shit down?" Paul said as he loudly knocked on my door. I contemplated turning up the music but I fought the urge. I grabbed my phone off my dresser, which had been programmed to block any number that wasn't a contact.

_1 new message_

I opened it and smiled to myself.

**_Kelso Lochland says:_**

**Are you home? I have your costumes for this weekend and an extra hot chocolate J**

I quickly texted back

**_Braylynn Hart says:_**

**Yeah I'm home J if I grab Merlin can we go for a walk?**

A few minutes later he texted back.

**_Kelso Lochland says:_**

**Sure I just picked up Molly. Be over in a min**

I scrambled to get up, falling off my bed before rushing to my closet. I tore off my old sweater in exchange for a purple and black flower-y shirt. I found an cream scarf to put on before I dared to leave my room.

"Merlin! Who wants to go for a walk?" I call out. I hear barking from across the house and he comes running out from the kitchen.

"Go find your leash." I say, and he pokes his head into the closet, pulling his leash out along with a few shoes.

Alice is sitting on the last step with Jasper and Rosalie, who glance at me as I walk down the stairs. I put on my nice boots and find my black jacket, pulling out the chapstick from the pocket and quickly going over my lips. I hook Merlin's leash on and fix my bun when the doorbell rings.

"It's open!" I call, and Kelso sticks his head in the door. Molly pushes her way through the door to run over and bunt her nose against Merlin's. Her leash drags on the ground.

"Hey." Kelso said, smiling as he nudges the door open with his hip. The hooks of the clothes hangers are hooked over one arm as he holds the handles of two travel mugs with the other hand.

"Here, I'll take those." I say, grabbing my costumes from him.

"The red one is your solo costume, green is our duet, and white is your duet with Jas." He said, taking a sip out of one of the mugs.

"I'm going to put them in my room. Just a minute." I left him with the dogs as I ran up the stairs and threw the clothes bags onto my bed.

When I came back downstairs there was a unique blend of Leah's extended family glaring at Kelso, who had his best 'bitch I might be' look on his face.

"Ready?" He asked as I gingerly made my way towards him. I grabbed Merlin's leash and my hot chocolate.

"Yup."

"Where are you going, Braylynn?" I looked over my shoulder to find Paul.

"None of your business, Paul." Kelso pulled the door open and motioned for me to go through it. He picked up Molly's leash as we walked out and I firmly closed the door behind me.

"Aren't they a pleasure?" Kelso said sarcastically as we reached the end of my driveway.

"Tell me about it. I don't think I've ever spent so much time in my room as I have the last two weeks. Can you hold this?" I hand him back my mug as I tie Merlin's leash around my waist. Molly, who's a calm, little black lab walks nicely for Kelso as opposed to my crazy husky. I take my mug back from him.

"How's your head? I know when I got a concussion I felt like puking for days every time I tried to get up. Then again, I was also sick, so…"

"I feel fine. The first day I had a really bad headache, but I haven't felt anything since."

"You should go easy on it anyways. Brain damage bites."

"I will." We walk in comfortable silence for awhile.

"How's night classes going?" I ask, and his face lights up.

"They're going awesomely! When I get enough money I'm going to be able to go to University full-time and I'll probably finish my degree in two years." I grinned at his enthusiasm.

"Good. I know you'll be an awesome teacher."

"Thanks. Anyways, how are you feeling?" I shrugged and he raised an eyebrow.

"C'mon. You're a lot less spunky than usual." I took a long sip of my hot chocolate.

"I dunno. I really don't want to go to the wedding. I'm just worried that if something ever happened to Leah that it would distroy Kevin. He's so attached to her." The words flew out of my mouth before I had a chance to filter them.

"Well, you can't live your life wondering 'what if?'. Kevin's an adult, Bray. He had to raise you himself, and he gave up going to culinary college to make sure you had a good childhood. I know I'm not around to completely vouch for Leah's character, but if Kevin's anything like you, he's pretty smart. You have to trust that he can handle himself. And even if you don't like Leah, you love Kevin, and she means a lot to him." I nod along and sigh.

"I know. I mean, he's the only family I have. If something happened to him…"

"If something happened to him you'd be the one responsible for making that person's life a living nightmare, okay? But that's after they do something to Kevin. Not before." Kelso wrapped an arm around me and gave me a squeeze.

"It's just hard because I was fighting with Leah when her family came over and they all treat me like I'm evil, or I'm a bratty, spoiled child."

"I didn't say you had to like her family." Kelso said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"What did they say to you?" I murmured, stopping. He looked up at the sky before looking back to me.

"Oh, just threatening me about touching you innapropriately, convincing you to do things against you will, exetera exetera."

"That sounds about right. I mean, if it were just Kevin, Leah and I I'm sure we would've worked something out by now but, like, after I hurt my ankle I didn't want any of them trying to help me because I'm perfectly capable of dealing with myself, and Leah's step-sister's father in-law was lecturing me about how irresponsable I was being by not constantly having and icepack strapped to it when I know you're not supposed to keep it on there forever and someone sneaked into my room and stuck it on my foot so I woke up and I was worried because I couldn't feel part of my foot because e the ice had been on it all night…" I was crying by this part of the story and I had to swallow and take a deep breath.

"And then one of Leah's relatives come in and goes 'you must be Braylynn. I guess they really weren't exagerating'. Like, that the heck?" Kelso wrapped his arms around me.

"They're just sticking up for Leah in their own stupid way. But instead of there being one of them, like there is with Kevin, there's two dozen or so. A small army, perhaps. And they're adult, too." I nodded, whiping the tears out of my eyes.

"I just want them to leave. I can't even leave my room without someone making a comment about me or making me uncomfortable." I say, and Kelso kissed my cheek.

"Well, the good news is they will be leaving, right after the wedding. The other good news is that you're my little trooper, and I know you can make it though this. And then all you have to do is grin and bear it throught the wedding and you're home free." I nodded, finishing my hot chocolate.

"Thanks Kelso. You're the best."

"I know." He says, smiling brightly before giving me another squeeze.

We make our way back to the house as Kevin is pulling in.

"Hey Kev!" I say and wave. He looks Kelso up and down disprovingly.

"I'll see you tomorrow, if you're working." Kelso says, giving me a nudge. I give him back his mug and he pulls Molly to his car.

"Why is Kelso Lochland over?"

"He came to drop off my costumes and we went for a walk. Because I couldn't dance today and apparently I can't do any school work either." I waved as Kelso drove off.

"How old is he, anyways."

"How old is Leah, anyways? How old is Jasper, anyways? How old is-"

"Braylynn,"

"He's nineteen. And he's taking night classes. He teaches three to seven year olds to tap dance and he's gayer than a rainbow, okay? He's not going to do anything except act as a stellar role model." That shut Kevin up for a while, and he turned to walk to the house.

"Can we talk for a second? I know you were working all day and all you want to do is scoodely poop with Leah but it'll only take a minute." I said, dragging him up the driveway.

"Where are we going?"

"Out of earshot. Or at least far enough that I can lie to myself that we're out of earshot."

We stood by our mailbox.

"Look, I know you like Leah a lot,"

"I love her Bray, that's different."

"Okay, you love her. And you know that I don't always like her very much. Because really, you would be safer marrying the head of the mafia but anyways, I'm willing to overlook that because she means a lot to you. And I'll go to the wedding, too. But that doesn't mean that I'll get along with her family because right now I want to set Paul on fire."

"So you're coming to the wedding?" Kevin's face was lit up like the sky on Canada day.

"Yeah. And I'll wear the dress, or whatever. It is a nice dress." Kevin hugged me, and I smiled. Weeks of fighting were over.

"Paul is a jerk." Kevin admitted.

"Um, yeah! Why do you think I started liking Leah? Because she's not Paul!" Kevin laughed.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not marrying Paul then."

"Don't even joke about that."

"Alright, alright."

**A/N: Thanks to my two anonymous reviewers! I know Braylynn was a little whiny at the beginning, but things are looking up. Thanks for reading! I'd love a review :)**


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